Avalanche
Avalanche is an X-men villain from Marvel comics and media. He is a mutant with the power to create seismic vibrations in the earth or on earth-bound objects. He was part of Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Comic Book History Origins Dominic Petros is an immigrant from Greece and a mutant with the powers to generate powerful seismic waves from his hands strong enough to shatter inorganic matter and create localized earthquakes. Being a mutant and seeing his own kind hunted and killed made him realize how ignorant mankind can be and he decided to hide his mutant powers from the world. Brotherhood of Mutants He was approached by the mutant known as Mystique to join the second incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants in hopes of assassinating Senator Robert Kelly who wanted to register mutants. They attacked him during Kelly's hearings on the menace that mutants allegedly pose to humanity in general, but were stopped by the X-Men. Petros remained with the Brotherhood for quite some time, only briefly leaving to attempt to blackmail the state of California into paying him an enormous sum to prevent him from using his power to trigger a major earthquake. He returned to the Brotherhood after being stopped by the Hulk. Freedom Force Petros was among the Brotherhood members when Mystique turned the team over to the government to serve time for their crimes as the government's strike force. Often finding themselves in semi-legitimate covert operations as a member of Freedom Force, Petros clashed with several superhero teams such as the X-Men and the Avengers. On a mission in Kuwait during the war of Operation: Desert Storm, Petros was forced to abandoned his Freedom Force teammates Blob and Pyro. After this mission, Freedom Force was dissolved, and Petros became a free agent mercenary. Legacy Virus When Pyro, a good friend of Petros, was diagnosed with the Legacy Virus1, he did whatever he could to aid him in his struggle for survival, while free from the Legacy Virus himself, he would join a band of infected mutants to seek a cure by attempting to obtain Isotope-E from the High Evolutionary. The mutant Quicksilver was headquartered at the Evolutionary's base at the time, and elicited help from Heroes for Hire, who defeated the mutants. X-Corps Petros was later recruited by the X-Men's Banshee to form a paramilitary force that could police the mutant community, the X-Corps, which enjoyed official sanction from many countries in Europe. When the X-Men learned of the team's existence, they warned Banshee to abandon the idea because he had recruited several known villains. In fact, Banshee had imprisoned Martinique Jason and used her psychic powers to dull the violent impulses of the "reformed" villains on his team, including Petros. The villain Mystique infiltrated the X-Corps under the guise of a mutant named Surge, and freed Mastermind and the other villains. The villains embarked on a rampage through Paris were Petros used his earthquake powers to destroy the Eiffel Tower, but before more damage could be done, the X-Men were able to defeat the rogue villains. Exodus' Brotherhood When the Brotherhood reassembled under the leadership of Magneto's protégé Exodus, Petros was among their number. The Brotherhood first appeared when they were terrorizing Philadelphia, but they were confronted by the X-Men. The Brotherhood were able to flee before their ultimate purpose was revealed, but they soon took the battle directly to the X-Men, using their member, Juggernaut, to infiltrate the team. In fact, Juggernaut had turned a new leaf, and betrayed the Brotherhood to side with the X-Men. The X-Men only managed to hold the Brotherhood at bay until their associate Xorn managed to defeat them all by removing his helmet and exposing the Brotherhood and the Juggernaut to the black hole it contained. They were all sucked inside. The black hole was a portal to Mojoworld, where the Brotherhood would sell the traitor Nocturne and Juggernaut to Mojo and Spiral for a way back home. While Petros alongside Mammomax and Black Tom made it back home, Exodus was accidentally transported to another realm. Leaderless, Petros left the team. M-Day After M-Day, Petros still had his powers, but with so many mutants gone, Petros thought his fight for mutant rights were a thing of the past and retired as a mercenary and activist/terrorist. He opened up a small bar in the Sunset District of San Francisco, called the Gene Pool. When the X-Men moved their headquarters to San Fransisco, Petros was frightened that they would eventually come for him for his past crimes, as he was packing in hopes of leaving his new found life, the X-Men popped in with a friendly warning, that they had a truce, but they would be back if he ever decided to return to a life of crime. As they left, with his place of business and apartment trashed, Petros looked around, mumbling to himself; "F@*!ing X-Men..:" During San Francisco riots, Hellion, Lorelei, Meld, Sunspot, Adam X, Match and Avalanche met in this last's bar and choose to oppose to the H.A.M.M.E.R. curfew. They were all stopped and jailed by the Dark X-Men and H.A.M.M.E.R agents. Later, he was seen in San Francisco Subway, fighting Nimrods alongside Husk, Sunspot and Boom-Boom. He was offered a place at the Jean Grey School by Wolverine but he declined due to the fact that he had a bar in San Francisco, along with the fact that being associated with Utopia offered him all kinds of protective benefits. Avalanche was captured by the Red Skull who removed part of his brain, replacing it with a machine that turned Avalanche into a puppet. Avalanche was made to go berserk in New York to renew hatred and fear for mutants. After a fight with Captain America, Avalanche was made to jump off a cliff, unwillingly killing himself. Television History X-Men: The Animated Series Avalanche appeared in the X-Men animated series. He was always accompanied by Pyro and later on, the Blob. He is part of the Brotherhood, which is led by Mystique. He was voiced by the late Rod Coneybeare. X-Men: Evolution Lance Alvers is a member of the Brotherhood. His love interest is Shadowcat, and although the two are very fond of each other, to the point where Avalanche asked her to the prom, and even temporarily joined the X-Men, their different allegiances often thwart their relationship. Avalanche comes over as a character who is more of a misfit thug, often belligerent and angry, but also showing a more responsible side. Lance will eventually join S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Freedom Force. Wolverine and the X-Men Avalanche is a member of the Brotherhood and an enemy of the X-Men. Video Game History Avalanche appeared in X-Men: Legends as a boss character that the X-Men must fight, but did not appear in the sequel. Movie History Avalanche appeared as a supporting antagonist in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand. He is a member of the Omega Gang. Upon hearing the news of a mutant cure, Avalanche and the other Omegas allied with the Brotherhood of Mutants (led by Magneto) to track down and kill the mutant boy Leech (whose powers act as the source of the cure). During the battle between the X-Men and the Brotherhood, Avalanche would be defeated in battle by Shadowcat, who used her intangibility to evade him. It is unknown whether he has perished away to his death by Dark Phoenix's disintegration wave or if he escaped. Gallery 1000px-Dominikos_Petrakis_(Earth-92131).jpg|Avalanche in X-Men: The Animated Series 1092507681_nceAlversL.jpg|Avalanche as he appears in X-Men Evolution Dominoks_(Earth-80920)_0.png|Avalnache in Wolverine and the X-Men Dominikos_Petrakis_(Earth-7964).jpg|Avalanche in the video game Trivia *He was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. 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